Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Yes, yes, I know, Holy political purist: The McLaughlin Group could be indirectly blamed for the coarsening of American political dialogue (Averted Gaze). John McLaughlin was almost certainly a provocateur, prodding his subservient panel to heated argument and controversial statements. But I for one never really took the man or the show for that that seriously, so that's why maybe I am not so hot-around-the-collar over the death of the host of the McLaughlin Group.

And how could you really take it all that seriously? The production values were atrocious, the program was 22-minutes long soaking wet and it gave maybe 4-minutes tops to discussing issues as weighty as the START Treaty or Turkish membership in the European Union. I got my information, quite frankly, from the New York Times and Washington Post -- even in high school and certainly in college -- but I got my political entertainment, and I have always loved political entertainment, back in the day, from the McLaughlin Group.

I have been watching The
McLaughlin Group since before I went to college, which seems like aeons ago in retrospect. In those days it was John, Jack Germond, Eleanor, Pat Buchanan and Robert Novak. Novak soon left (or, rather, was fired), as did Germond. But Eleanor and Pat -- the shows barometers of left and right -- always reamined, loyalists to the end.

What I loved most about the show is how McLaughlin created a narrative beyond the politics involving the panelists on the show. John would openly flirt with Eleanor Clift (who was married at the time), "Eleanor, Eleanor, gee you're swell and all," he crooned, badly. Sometime panelist Freddie "the Beetle" Barnes was a stone-cold geek, and billionaire Mort Zuckerman endured endless ribbing about his money, a source of infinite McLaughlin's envy. McLaughlin kept mentioning the rumpled Germond's weakness for "the track," in careless whispers (Ah, the 80s). I always thought it was all very old school, very HL Mencken-ish, the image of a rumpled, chubby Germond, armed with a hip flask at the track betting on a substantial tip from an equally soused colleague. Germond always seemed about as enchanted in being a panelist on the show as he would have been with an impromptu prostate examination. From his obituary:

He later characterized that program — which for better or worse was
intended to be a high-pitched political food fight — as 'really bad TV.'
He said he had stayed only so he could pay his daughter’s medical
school tuition.

I
have no illusions about the "badness" of the show, oh purist media commentators. It was bad politics and after the age of 21 I never learned anything new from watching the show. The budget for McLaughlin Group was clearly cut-rate, although the panel
probably made out like bandits. That having been
said, it was entertaining (particularly to young politcs geeks),
nostalgic (to those same politics geeks returning home from college), lovingly
predictable (one always knew where Eleanor and Pat stood on an issue),
and a wonderful prod to open conversation over the holidays (especially among my close immediate
family of Ugandan immigrants). I loved the show largely because it was a part of my childhood and adulthood, it was entertainment that brought my Ugandan-American immigrant family closer together. Over the years many of my politics-geek friends from diverse backgrounds have said much the same.It has been a Sunday ritual for as my family long as I can remember. The
last few years though the old guy had been getting up there in age, and
it showed. He is not as quick on the draw. McLaughlin read most of his
dialogue from a sheet that was probably prepared by someone else. He
spoke less and less, allowing the panelists to dominate the conversation
-- something the old McLaughlin would never have allowed. I’ve noticed,
I’m sure a lot
of fans have, that the show was winding down. The schedule was really
starting to wear on the former Jesuit priest, which made the last
episodes all the more sad. "The sharpest minds, best sources, hardest
talk” has come to an abrupt end. I
particularly loved the year-end “awards” show (or is it Thanksgiving ―
“gobble gobble”) when the panel ― Pat, Eleanor, now Tom and Clarence Page ―
dress up at their Beltway swishiest, while McLaughlin gets his festive red blazer out of the back of his mothballed
closet. I also remember the moving tribute John gave to Eleanor's husband, Tom Brazaitis on the occasion of his death. And after the death of Tom Brazaitis, Eleanor wore black for what seemed like the rest of the year. I remember wondering aloud "How long can a human being mourn."?And then one day Eleanor laughed, and stopped wearing black, and the show becamse light again.

To me the show was most relevant during
the Second Persian Gulf War when
Eleanor and Pat Buchanan, curiously, were on the same side of the fence ―liberalism
and paleoconservative at one in an odd post-Cold war moment where even
neoconservative Jeanne Kirkpatrick leaned "America First." Although Pat
Buchanan frequently said unfortunate
things ― especially about immigrants and race ― his paleoconservative
critique
of Tony Blankley's mainstream conservatism-neoconservatism was something not
seen on the cable networks. And now Buchanan’s paleoconservatism has
come up again as highly relevant via the rise of Trump.

The
last year, however, John McLaughlin totally
missed the Brexit. That was a clarion sign that something was not quite
right in McLaughlinWorld. I mean, this was Jesuit,
philosophically-trained John McLaughlin, right?

I have no idea if they continue
with the show (McLaughlin Group hosted by Eleanor Clift?) or if this is the end of
an era.If they do continue with Pat or Eleanor hosting, it will not quite be the same.
While the young breathe a collective "Whatevs" at the death of such a louche beltway public television provocateur, those of us who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War loved the madcap, almost antic comic vibe that pervaded the McLaughlin Show. Whether or not McLaughlin meant the show to be taken as entertainment, I most certainly did. And as entertainment -- or, rather, political entertainment -- it was a pretty good thing.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Whether you liked it or abstained entirely, Gawker was an influential part of the Manhattan media landscape over the last decade and a half. Journalism changed from the introduction of the Gawker blend of snarkiness (a cousin to Spy's) and their obsessive personal coverage of the 1%. For 14-years Gawker ran roughshod -- for good or for ill -- over the wealthy, the famous and the powerful as an independent media company with a heck of a lot of moxy. Oftentimes that brash spirit overstepped the bounds of good taste and, quite frankly ethics. But they have always been somewhat good to this blog over the years, particularly in the beginning years.

On Wednesday night there was a hint of autumnal sadness in the air even as the wine was being tossed back, a sense that an era is ending. And it has -- or it will -- next week, when Gawker is sold to a large media conglomerate (Ziff-Davis?) with large enough pockets and a hunger for their data.

Lockhart Steele, Elizabeth Spiers, Lindsay Robertson were among the crowd which seemed to include just about every member of the Gawker team past and present as well as every media reporter in the city, which is quite a feat in the thick of August. A lot of the Gawker team of the past are now married and with kids.

Part of the sadness of the night involves the fact that the ending of Gawker involves a victory for the bad guys, one in particular. Peter Thiel, who funded the Hulk Hogan lawsuit -- and the others is the winner. Anil Dash summed it up nicely on Twitter. "We know Thiel funded James O'Keefe's attacks on ACORN & Planned Parenthood. We know he backs Trump's violent, fascist campaign. Who's next?"Nick Denton, John Cook and Heather Dietrick all spoke. Nick, in particular, was very gracious about the whole strange trip of Gawker, reminding the attendees that several of the Gawker team are still fighting lawsuits, including a 23-year old intern. Nick mentioned A.J. Daulerio, who was not in attendance, because he is in the process of declaring bankruptcy. It was fun -- the event itself and the wild 14-year ride.Also in attendance:Choire Sicha, Anna Holmes, Andrew Krucoff, Lloyd Grove, Emily Gould, CNN'sTom Kludt, Max Read, Adrien Chen, Irin Carmon, Anil Dash, Peter Kafka, Felix Salmon, and Michael Calderone.